Paradise
by I Can Kill You With My Brain
Summary: This is a sequel to Song of the River. This is also about River. New character, but don't worry, it doesn't ruin it. Lots of Blue Hands and the Academy in this one.
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue**

River lay on top of the catwalk on Serenity, listening.

Jayne was drinking in his cabin, Simon was thinking of Kaylee in the infirmary, and Kaylee was thinking of Simon in the engine room. Inara was gone, off with a client, and Mal was dreaming of a life with Inara and their children, a life that he knew would never happen. Wash and Zoe were together in there bunk, and Book was reading his symbol of contradictions and impossibilities in his room.

Everyone was accounted for. River turned her mind outside. They were coming, she knew. Whispers ran like poison through the world underneath, a seething jumble of horror, agony, torture, and _blue_. So much blue. It made River hurt to see it.

They were coming, she just didn't know when. She didn't know what she was going to do. They could force her to do whatever she wanted. If they had Simon.

Simon was the key, but he didn't know it. No one knew it. It was a secret, one of many that she carried.

They were coming, the blue whispered, they were coming, and coming soon.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 1**

River followed the laughter and the sound of voices to the cargo bay. She looked down from the catwalks to see the crew of Serenity playing a lively game of ball.

She leaned even farther over to take a closer look. Everyone, even her pompous boob of a brother, was playing. She could discern no rules or logic to the game, except for the fact that you must take the small, canvas ball and put it threw a loop that hung suspended from the ceiling.

Suddenly, Kaylee wrenched the ball away from Jayne and threw it to Simon, who promptly dropped it on his foot. River giggled as Simon hopped around on his uninjured foot, swearing fluently. Jayne was catching.

While Kaylee rushed over to see if he was okay, Mal scooped up the ball and lobbed it to Book, who threw it towards the hoop.

The ball just barely missed, flying only a centimeter to high, and landed in River's outstretched hands.

Immediately, the room fell silent. River felt terror emanating from several people, especially Jayne. Ever since the disastrous reunion with their parents, the crew had avoided her. Simon had told them all about River's cold-blooded murder of the guard, and the way she had calmly disabled her mother, father, and best friend. Only Simon was still the same, still protecting her and trying to make her better.

River gave them what she hoped was a reassuring smile. "What team am I on?" she asked jokingly. Mal and Zoe, the two team leaders, glared at each other. River could practically hear their conversation.

_'You take her.' 'No, you.' 'You.' 'That was an order Zoe.'_

Simon spoke up first. "You can be on my team mei-mei." He said cheerfully, studiously ignoring Zoe's death glare.

River clapped her hands, delighted to be on a team. She quickly scrambled up the railing of the catwalk until she stood balanced at the very top.

At once, screams filled the room as every one told her not to jump. Rolling her eyes, River quickly calculated how far away the hoop was, how fast she would have to jump, and the angle of her flight. Rocking back on her heels, River pushed off, dropping three feet in the first ten seconds as she propelled herself five feet over.

The result was exactly how she predicted it would be. River hung with two hands from the hoop, the ball having already been flung through. It was currently bouncing off the far west wall, and she felt a little disappointed that no one had caught it.

"Don't move mei-mei!" yelled Simon, who was fluttering helplessly twenty feet below her. In loud tones, Jayne and Mal were discussing their chances of getting a ladder before she lost her grip. Inara and Kaylee had both fainted.

"Did I make a point?" Asked River hopefully. She knew she had, but she was trying to reassure the crew she was fine.

Simon let out a shaky laugh. "Yes River, you did make the point. Now hold on, help's coming."

"I don't need help." Said River, projecting her voice so that Mal, who was halfway up the stairs on his way to get a ladder heard her.

"I'm a bird," River giggled, trying to make her brother understand. Simon could be so slow. They had played this game hundreds of times when they were kids.

She was gratified when understanding dawned on his face. Motioning Mal back, Simon backed up to where Kaylee and Inara lay recovering.

"Why in the 'verse aren't you doing something?" yelled Mal, his face a brilliant red. Simon gestured at him to keep calm.

"River knows what she's doing." He said. River's heart swelled with happiness. At least Simon trusted her.

She quickly began swinging her body back and forth, rotating so that she was facing the catwalks again. There was only a five-foot gap between the catwalks and the hoop. Most people could easily run and jump that. And River wasn't most people. She had always been a natural athlete, able to run the mile in under five minutes without much trouble, and her stay at the Academy, while terrible, had made the most of that.

There, River had been forced to put herself into all sorts of incredibly dangerous situations. This was incredibly easy compared to some of those.

When she judged her momentum to be enough, River released her grip and soared like a trapeze artist. She stumbled slightly upon landing, then regained her feet before running down the stairs and into her brother's arms, smiling proudly all the while.

A rough hand grabbed her away from her brother and spun her around. River felt a small jolt of terror as she faced an incredibly angry Mal Reynolds.

"River!" he yelled, his voice causing echoes in the loud room that made her wince, "Why in the gorram hell did you do that? I thought you were smart!" River felt tears well in her eyes. Mal spun to face Simon.

"That crazy sister of yours will be locked into her room for the next two days. She can only come out for meals."

Spinning around, he marched angrily out of the room. Inara picked herself up and murmured something to Kaylee before running out of the room after Mal. One by one everyone left the room until only River and Simon were left.

River turned to look at Simon. "Just wanted to play," she whispered miserably. Simon gave her a small smile, devoid of his usual kindness.

"You scared us today River." He said gently. "I have to agree with the captain on this one." With a heart-breaking sob, River rushed out of the cargo bay and back to her room. No matter what she did, everyone was still scared of her, and now Captain Daddy was angry.

It had been a horrible day.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 2**

River sat sulking in her room. She had already thrown a fit, the likes of which had probably never been seen before.

She had thrown her art supplies at the wall, leaving paint smears everywhere. Then, she had painted extremely rude pictures of everyone on the crew, the largest of which was a drunken Mal, looking incredibly ugly with his small chin, coarse, greasy hair, and pimples.

When she had finished her drawings she had written every swear word that had ever been invented in a variety of languages over her walls. After that, she had curled up in a corner with her blanket to wait for dinner. Her only regret was that no one had been around to witness her tantrum.

Three hours, twenty-two minutes and nine seconds after she was exiled to her room, River heard Simon's footsteps in the hallway. She knew that he was coming to unlock her room and take her to dinner. She frowned, curling into an even tighter ball.

She heard Simon fumble for the key, and the door unlocked with a light clicking sound. Gently, Simon pushed the door open. River realized contritely that he was trying not to wake her up if she was asleep.

A loud clatter startled her and she struggled to move, hopelessly tangled in her blankets. It was Simon. He had seen the pictures and the curse words and had dropped a small bowl he was carrying.

"My God River!" he yelped, "What did you do?" River winced, suddenly sorry for her tantrum.

"Sorry," she whispered from the floor. Simon blinked several times, then came over and knelt down next to her.

Reaching over, he quickly unwound the blanket that had ensnared her before helping her to her feet.

"You don't have to apologize to me." He said grimly, "It's Mal you're going to have to explain it to." River pouted, her bottom lip jutting out.

Simon walked over to the drawing of himself. "River, why is my picture lying dead on the floor with a scalpel in my head?" River winced.

"Sorry." She repeated. Simon smiled.

"I especially like what you did to Jayne." He said, gesturing to where a humanoid figure covered in fur was. "You captured his… essence perfectly." He held out his hand, fingers wiggling.

"Come on River, let's go to dinner." Happy that Simon wasn't made at her, River grabbed his hand, following him docilely out the door, where the bowl he had dropped still laid. It had some purple sculpting clay that he must have been bringing to her so that she wouldn't be bored.

That was one thing that River loved about Simon. Even when she had dyed his hair electric pink when she was nine and she had been sent to her room without dinner, Simon had smuggled her some cookies, his pink hair almost glowing in the darkness of the house.

When they arrived in the dining room, everyone was already gathered around the table. River quickly ducked behind her brother to avoid the icy glare Mal was giving her. Shaking his head, Simon pulled River out from behind him and positioned her so that everyone could see her.

"River," he announced, "Has something to say." With that, he took his seat and trained his eyes expectantly on her.

River looked down at her bare feet. "Sorry." She mumbled apologetically.

"What was that?" asked Mal loudly. River's face heated up.

"Sorry." She said loudly, glancing up to meet Mal's eyes. "Bad birdie, shouldn't fly. I can cut my wings off if you want." She added as an afterthought, flapping her arms energetically.

"Well, we wouldn't have to worry that moonbrain was gonna murder us in our sleep." Said Jayne. Kaylee shot a horrified look at him.

"Jayne!" she snapped, getting up to put her arms around River, "River ain't gonna do that, are ya sweetie?"

River glared daggers at Jayne. "Only ape-man." She felt a rush of satisfaction as Jayne gulped nervously. Giving him a sweet smile, she took her customary place next to Simon.

Mal sighed and passed her the dish of mashed protein with a dash of salt and pepper. River happily dished the food onto her plate, then looked up as Mal clinked his fork against an ugly pink cup that he was using thanks to River breaking the dishes.

"I have bad news everyone." Immediately the whole table shut up, leaning closer to hear. "We'll be taking on passengers tomorrow, at our stopover on Artemis." A babble of conversation broke out.

"That's shiny Captain." Said Kaylee, her face lit up like a Christmas tree.

"What about River and Simon?" said Inara, absently reaching over to grab River's fork before she spilled protein on herself.

Mal smiled. "We'll check'em out first, and River should stay out of sight as much as possible."

"How long will they be on the boat?" asked Simon, glancing nervously at River, who was glaring at Mal.

Mal shrugged. "Three or four days. They'll pay good money though. Artemis doesn't have very many ships ready to take on passengers."

Jayne smiled. "I'm liking this idea. Money, no gorram crazy girls. Sounds good to me." River stuck her tongue out at him.

"Will they like dinosaurs?" asked Wash. Mal blinked, then clapped his hands together.

"Right then," he said, his eyes sweeping the table, "Looks like we'll be getting some passengers soon."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 3**

Mal, Simon, Kaylee, and Jayne sat right inside the cargo bay of Serenity, looking out at Artemis.

It was dusty there, and everywhere you looked it was slightly hazy. Simon's eyes hurt looking at any one place for to long

It was a bright morning, and there was only two other ships docked, each also looking for passengers. Several yards away, an older man, probably forty or so, walked along, holding hands with a young girl around River's age. In her hand was an ice cream cone.

The man hesitated, then walked up to the captain of the ship next to Serenity. Simon watched disinterestedly as he talked quietly with the captain, moving his hands emphatically.

Simon noticed that the girl was standing quietly in front of Serenity, her head tilted back so she could look up.

She was remarkably pretty, with long, silky black hair that was only an inch or two shorter than River's. Her eyes were wide, dark, and curious. Her skin was golden, and she was wearing dark clothing that drew attention to her figure. Clutched in her right hand was her ice cream cone, but Simon noticed that it was almost completely melted.

"Can I help you?" called Mal, not bothering to move from his chair. The girl walked closer, and Simon noticed that she moved arrogantly, like a panther that knew that it was the silent king of the forest. There was something almost hypnotic about it, but deadly also.

Kaylee cleared her throat and Simon looked away, his face flushing red.

"Your ship's name is wrong." Said the girl. Her voice was musical, and she sounded like she was singing when she spoke.

Mal blinked, taken aback. The strange girl stepped closer, her hand reaching out to touch the side of Serenity.

"False logistics. Serenity, the state or quality of being serene, peaceful. This isn't peaceful. None of the equations add up so the ship won't fly. Wings and pieces falling off." Her voice had risen, and she looked slightly scared, her eyes still staring up at the ship where the name was printed.

"I'm so sorry." Said a sudden voice. It was her companion. His face was honest and open, and extraordinarily handsome.

The man put his arms around the girl and Simon watched her calm down, before she shook him off and stepped out of reach.

"This is my niece," he said to Mal. "I apologize if she bothered you. I'm going to Atlanta, and I'm looking for a ship that can take me." He gestured to the girl, who was once again looking up at the ship. "This is Nefertiri. I just call her Tiri. She's really sick, and I wan to go to a hospital to get her looked at."

Simon nodded, this made sense. Atlanta was a planet located halfway between the Rim and the Core, without ties to the Alliance or anyone else. They had some excellent hospitals, but they were incredibly expensive, which was why Simon hadn't taken River there.

"What's wrong with her?" asked Kaylee, eying Tiri strangely.

The man's face fell. "I don't know," he said quietly. "Three years ago she fell and hit her head on a rock. She was in a coma for three days and when she woke up she was like this. I can't do it anymore. That's why I'm taking her to a hospital. I'm prepared to pay double whatever your asking price is."

Mal looked at Nefertiri, then nodded. "Four thousand credits is what you can pay me." Simon resisted the urge to gasp. That was an enormous amount of money.

The man just nodded and dug it out of his pocket. "My name's Mr. Jenkins." With that, he gently took hold of Tiri and steered her into the ship, following Kaylee who had leaped up to help.

The second they were out of earshot, Jayne turned to Mal. "Why in the gorram 'verse are we taking another crazy on board? I don't want this one slicing 'n dicing me."

Mal gave Jayne a look that was equal parts annoyance and pity. "They're paying four thousand credits for two days of flying." With that, he got up and walked off, calling to Wash to start the ship.

Simon gave Jayne a hesitant smile and then went off to play with River, who was still locked up in her room.

Jayne watched him go, then shook his head. "Gorram idiots. We're all gonna wake up in our beds covered in blood with those two crazies running around." That said, he got up and shut the cargo bay doors.

Author's Notes: If you want to see a picture of Tiri, look at my profile. (My avatar) I'm loosely basing her off of a TV character. Ignore the clothes. In the show she's Egyptian.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 4**

River glanced up as Simon unlocked her door. She was sitting on her bed playing with her purple clay. She noted that Simon seemed happy that his picture had been painted over, replaced by one of him and River dancing in the cargo bay. She had left the other paintings up though. She wasn't that happy.

"River," said Simon, coming over to sit next to her, "You're going to have to stay in your room a lot for a few more days. We picked up some passengers and they might be Alliance-friendly."

River stopped playing and looked up at him. "My room is a jail and my brain is the cell. How can I break out if I am not allowed to leave?"

Simon bit his lip, upset. "River, mei-mei, it's only for a little bit. I promise." River went back to fashioning a key out of her clay.

Simon sighed and reached out to hug her. River flinched away. "No touch." She commanded crossly. Simon sighed and got up to leave. He paused at the door.

"Dinner is in twenty minutes. I'm trusting you to go there by yourself, and I'm leaving your door open. Don't you dare come out before dinnertime." With that he turned and exited the room.

River glanced up, watching him go. She had known that there were passengers onboard, but she had forced herself not to look into their minds. She only knew that one was a girl and the other was a man.

With a sigh, she held up her perfect purple key, an exact replica of Simon's key, down to the small dent where she had hurled the key into the wall in a rage.

She continued looking at it, then hurled it against the picture of Book with his hair undone and his eyes crossed, holding his Symbol that was covered with bandages and blood.

Unlike the real key, her clay smashed flat, making Book look like he had a purple pancake for a nose. With a sigh, she flopped down onto her bed and began listing the Periodic Table of Elements.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 5**

Simon sat at the kitchen table waiting for dinner to start. The rest of the crew was already there, and the only person missing was River.

Hearing light footsteps in the hall, Simon looked up, expecting to see River.

It was the girl passenger, Tiri. She paused in the doorway, looking shy.

"I'm not supposed to be here." She said in her musical voice. She stepped into the room anyway. She looked around, curious, before turning her attention to Mal.

"You could have won you know." She stated, moving closer and looking at him with her large, dark eyes.

"Your commander was an idiot, wasn't strategic." Her hand fell until her fingers brushed the edge of his gun. With a whirl, she turned away, leaving Mal staring after her, speechless.

"Do you know the story of the Boy and the Wolf?" she asked, turning to look at the group. She carried on before any one could answer. "The boy saw a wolf and called the villagers, but when they came they couldn't see it. But he did, and he kept calling, and they still didn't believe him. And then the wolf came and killed the sheep and stole the boy. Wolf amongst the sheep."

She fixed her eyes on Simon, obviously trying to communicate with him.

"This one's even more cracked than the other one." Groused Jayne, looking annoyed. "I thought that she was supposed to be locked up."

"She is." Said Mr. Jenkins, coming into the room. He looked at Mal. "I apologize." He said sincerely. "I didn't realize that she slipped out."

Mal nodded. "Just see that it don't happen again." Mr. Jenkins nodded and moved towards Tiri. Suddenly, a person burst into the room.

"Simon!" exclaimed River happily. Simon turned to look, but froze at the sound of a gun clicking. Spinning around, he saw that Nefertiri had raised a pistol, disengaged the safety, and cocked it at his mei-mei in less than three seconds.

Mal instantly raised his own gun. She didn't even look at him. "I switched your gun with a fake."

Her voice sent chills down Simon's spine. Like her eyes, it was uncaring and cold as ice. He looked desperately at Mr. Jenkins, but his face was calm and controlled. In the doorway, River whimpered. The crew was frozen in their seats by the assurance that if they so much as scooted their chairs back an inch Tiri would shoot; and she wouldn't miss.

"River Tam." Said Mr. Jenkins at last. "You've been a very naughty girl."


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 6**

River glanced at the gun. It was small, a Glock. She knew also that if she attempted to relieve Tiri of her gun that she would shoot Simon.

River missed Tiri. They had been best friends at the Academy, always looking out for each other. They had both had the same level of intellect, the same physical prowess. They had run tests on all the students when they first came to the Academy.

River had broken in to look, hoping she could discover a way out, and instead learned that they were identical both mentally and physically.

But River had wanted to be the best. She had wanted to be number one. So Nefertiri had let her beat her on a test, had _purposely_ missed one question. And the doctors had their candidate. They started testing on River the very same day.

Now, River could see no trace of her kind friend. They had triggered her, and in front of her was a living weapon, capable of terminating the whole room in less than a minute.

But there was a hope. River calculated a twenty-five percent chance that Tiri hadn't been built with safety in mind. Her job was to locate Simon and River and bring them back. All River had to do was find the right words, recall the right memory, and she might deactivate herself.

On the other hand, she might simply shoot everyone.

"Well now, there's no need for unpleasantness." Said Mal soothingly. Kaylee was pale, clutching Simon's arms for support.

"I say we kill'em." Said Jayne, eying Tiri speculatively. Mr. Jenkins rolled his eyes.

"Let me assure you that you wouldn't last two minutes against her. I would suggest that everyone remain calm and stay in their seats. We'll just take Simon and Ms. Tam and go." River bit her lip, warring between the urge to fall into a little ball and scream and to throw herself at Mr. Jenkins.

"Of course," Mr. Jenkins continued, "I'm surprised that you didn't figure out something was up earlier. Tiri here was basically telling you everything. There must have been an error. She wasn't supposed to be able to tell you anything."

Inara shifted in her seat. "What do you want with Simon?" she asked, straining to be calm. "I thought you were only interested in River."

"Insurance." Said River, her eyes not moving from the gun. "Carrot and a stick." She frowned. "I'm not a mule." Simon let out a short, hard laugh and reached over to wrap his arms around Kaylee.

"If we hand them over, will we get killed?" asked Jayne. Mal and Zoe glared at Jayne.

"No one's getting handed over to the Feds on my boat." Snapped Mal. Zoe nodded her agreement.

"Tiri?" asked River, stepping forward hesitantly. She froze as Tiri quickly cocked her gun, ready to shoot at once.

"It's me." River continued without much hope. Tiri blinked, confusion flitting across her eyes. River risked another quick step. She heard the intake of breath from Simon as he struggled with himself to not jump in front of her.

"The Tam River." Said Tiri slowly, still confused. Shock flitted across Mr. Jenkins face. "The babbling brook." Tiri continued.

She smiled suddenly, her whole face lighting up. "River."

At once Mr. Jenkins stepped forward, his arm reaching for her. Without blinking Tiri snapped her arm around and shot him in the head. He fell without a sound.

River gazed disinterestedly at the body. "Pretty red dot."

Turning towards her friend she darted the last few steps to hug her. With a smile she stepped back, looking at Simon.

"We're safe now." She said calmly. Simon blinked, feeling like he had been hit over the head.

"Well now." Said Book, gazing at the dead man lying on the floor. "I guess this complicates matters." Mal emitted a groan, his head dropping into his hands.

"I think I need a drink." Jayne looked at him in shock.

"Now hang on a minute!" he yelled, his voice filling the room. "This girl just shot a guy and threatened to take River and Simon back to that school place. She also was gonna kill us. And we're just sitting here?"

River and Tiri looked at him, twin expressions of disgust on their faces.

"He looks better in red." Said Tiri. River nodded.

"I already tried that."

Suddenly, Tiri pulled a small chip out of her pocket. She reached forward, offering it to Mal. Wash and Kaylee flinched away from her as if she was going to shoot them. Which, given the circumstances, was understandable.

"What's this now?" asked Mal, looking at the chip as if it might explode.

River smiled slightly as Tiri answered. "It's an explanation."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 7**

Simon bent closer to look at the chip. "It's a computer chip." He said. "You just plug it into a computer and data comes up. From the looks of this it's a video chip." Mal nodded, then got up from the table.

"Right then," he said calmly, "Let's go and watch it. From what this one says, it's an explanation." He turned to go, then paused and looked at Jayne.

"Keep an eye on her." He said, jerking his thumb at Tiri, who quickly glanced at her feet. Ignoring Jayne's complaining Mal walked out of the kitchen and to Inara's shuttle, which had the best video screen on the whole ship.

Several minutes later the whole crew was sitting around the screen, with the exception of River, who was sitting off to the side with Tiri, and Jayne, who was eying them with a mixture of fear and anger.

Noticing this, River gave Jayne an extra wide smile.

Slowly, the video started up, and the whole room leaned in to listen.

There was a room, medium sized with two normal looking beds. On the closest bed sat Tiri and River. River wore a white shirt and jeans, her hair not quite as long. Tiri wore a black shirt and black jeans. Both girls were smiling, and Tiri was sitting on one side with River on the opposite.

Leaning forward, Tiri grinned at the camera.

"Hello random person who I don't know." She said, her smile growing.

Rolling her eyes, River grinned at her. "It's Simon," she hissed loudly. Tiri nodded sagely.

"Simon is a person who I don't know."

"Yes, but he's not random." River waved at the camera. "He's my brother."

"Right, and I'm sure he's not going to be creeped out by two girls making a video, right?" Tiri asked sarcastically.

River smiled again. "We're doing this for our counselor." she said. "It's to make us feel 'well-adjusted and to decrease your feelings of homesickness.'" Tiri leaned closer to the camera.

"I think that they're secretly spying on us." She whispered.

"Simon, this is Tiri." River explained. "She's special."

Tiri laughed. "Right, I'm not the one wearing that train wreck of an outfit." River gasped, then slapped Tiri. "Bitch!"

Tiri ignored her and moved towards the camera again. "We're supposed to talk about our day here and that stupid stuff."

"So, we did Orientation." Said River, "And Physics, which was kind of fun. One of the kids called me a little mouse, so Tiri called him an ugly toad." Tiri smirked.

"That shut him up."

"Then we had P.E., which was basically us playing dodgeball, which we owned. Then we went to lunch, and the food is actually good."

"Unlike that crap you're probably eating." Broke in Tiri. River gave her friend a long-suffering glance, then continued. "And I had my dance lesson, which was fun, and then we came here to do this."

"Boring!" sang Tiri. River groaned, then leaned forward. "Bye Simon! Talk to you later! And remember, you promised to write!"

The tape shut off with a click, the whole screen going dark.

Simon looked at River. Before he could say anything, she reached forward and put her finger across his mouth. "There's more." She said.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 8**

This time when the video came on the room was darker. Tiri sat upright on her side of the bed, with River wrapped in a blanket laying down in the other. The time stamp at the bottom showed that only a day had passed since their last video.

Tiri waved at the camera energetically. "Hi Simon. We wanted to make a video again, even though you probably haven't even got our first one. River stuck it in her letter to you." She poked River. "Talk."

River mumbled incoherently. Tiri frowned. "What did you say?"

"I said piss off." Tiri poked her again.

"He's your brother. And I'm not good at all the talking crap."

River sighed and sat up. "Physics was fun, Tiri threw a can of blue paint at the art teacher, and we pulled a practical joke on some of the kids by convincing them that we had to write a paper for history."

Tiri chuckled evilly. "You should have seen them running around. It was hilarious!"

"Anyway," said River sharply, "In P.E. we had to learn how to backflip and Tiri and I made a point of standing and walking around on our hands the whole time."

River tilted her head, thinking. "Oh, and Tiri missed a question on the test on purpose so that I could be head of the class." She leaned over and hugged her. "She's my bestest friend in the whole world."

Tiri smiled. "Remember that the next time you insult my intelligence, or I insult your dressing habits."

River groaned and then saluted the camera. She stood up and dragged her blanket over to the other bed, where she collapsed and didn't move.

Tiri smiled at the camera. "She's grumpy." Without moving the rest of her body, River flipped her off.

"Rude!" yelled Tiri, leaning over to turn off the camera. Before it went dark, you could hear River's reply of 'You deserve it for dragging me out of bed!'


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 9**

The crew of Serenity barely had time to blink before the next video came on. This one had been taken more than a week later, and was immediately different than the others.

For one thing, neither of the girls looked happy. River had tears running down her face, and was huddled up next to Tiri, who was looking slightly terrified.

"Simon," she said, her voice quavering slightly, "I'm really hoping you're getting this. I'm going to sew it into the letter." She glanced at River. "Tell him what you told me," she said soothingly.

River looked at the camera, stark terror in her eyes. "They cut into my brain." She whispered softly. "They took me out of Physics and brought me to this room and strapped me into a chair. They had needles and they were talking about what a success I was. It hurt Simon." She whimpered, sounding like a small child. "I want to go home. Please, don't leave me here." She started crying again, burying her head on Tiri's shoulder.

Tiri looked at the camera. "They put her into an 'elite program.' They said it was an honor, a privilege. Then six days ago she started having nightmares. They took away our gym class to. We're learning how to fight with guns and knives. They're bringing in specialists to teach us hand-to-hand combat. And River, I don't know what they're doing to her.

"She wakes up screaming all the time, and they keep ripping her out of class for these 'sessions,' they call them. She doesn't seem to recognize anyone anymore. Half the time she doesn't even know my name, let alone who and where she is. And they've got new guards." She nudged River. "Tell Simon the other thing you told me."

River looked up, eyes red-rimmed. "Two by two, hands of blue. They're not real. They're fake, imitations, empty vessels with no souls. They think I'm special, tell me that I'm a good girl. They had me try to pick out five buttons out of twenty that wouldn't kill the rat. I killed him Simon!" she burst into more sobs.

"Please Simon, get us out." Begged Tiri. They're going to start doing this to more of us now, not just River. You have to save us."

Footsteps sounded outside. Tiri glanced away, then back at the camera. "They're coming." She said urgently. "They can't know that we're communicating with you." The screen went black again.

River looked at the stunned faces of the crew. Simon looked pale and sick, and was holding tightly to Kaylee's hand. Zoe and Wash were doing the same, and River knew that both Mal and Inara wished that they could to. Book had his head in his hands, and Jayne was looking at them with something that might have been pity. When he noticed her looking though, he quickly glanced away.

River braced herself and looked at the screen again. The next video was coming.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 10**

The next video was three months after the last, and when it came on it showed River, hunched on the bed peering closely at the camera. Standing behind the bed, with her face in one hand, was Tiri. She looked tired and sad.

River looked eager, but her eyes were clouded. "Simon?" she queried, reaching out to touch the camera. "I write, but you don't answer. Why don't you answer?" Tiri reached forward and put her hand on River's shoulder.

"River," she said softly, "That's not your brother. It's a camera." River flinched away irritably.

"It's Simon." She insisted petulantly. "He's coming for me." She turned back to look at Tiri. "It's my birthday." She confessed happily. "So Simon has to be here for my birthday. He always takes the day off for my birthday."

Tiri's smile was sad. "Why don't you show him your new dance River?" she asked.

River's eyes clouded, confused. "I need a knife for my new dance." She said, bewildered. "I know for a fact that there aren't knives in here because they removed all the sharp objects when you attacked the guards." She tilted her head. "I told you not to, but you didn't listen."

Tiri's smile faltered slightly, then steadied. "Not your knife dance River, your ballet dance." River frowned.

"I'm not supposed to dance." She paused, listening. "But nobody's there." She looked at the camera. "You won't tell, right Simon?" She kept looking, then nodded, satisfied.

She leapt gracefully off the bed, and walked to the center of the room. She closed her eyes, concentrating, then started to dance.

She moved to a music that nobody could hear, leaping and twirling, spinning and pirouetting. It was unclear how long she would have kept doing it, but she was cut short when the door slammed open.

Two men in blue gloves were standing there. One was tall with red hair. He wasn't smiling. The other, shorter, one had brown hair, and was smiling. They both emitted a feeling of fear and power. These men would do anything for the cause they believed just.

River stumbled backwards, beginning to cry. Tiri's face, which had been lit with enjoyment only seconds ago, turned to a mask of fear.

"What are you doing Ms. Tam?" asked the shorter one. Even though he was smiling, his voice was cold. River continued crying.

"Dancing." She forced out miserably. The taller one took a step forward.

"What did we say about dancing?" he asked quietly. River sniffled.

"Not to do it anymore." He nodded.

"So why were you?"

"It's my birthday. I was dancing with Simon." River replied dully, tears still sliding down her cheeks. Tiri shot a nervous glance towards the camera.

The shorter man moved towards her. She flinched away, letting out a whimper. He sighed impatiently and grabbed her arm, dragging her out of the room. The taller man continued to look at Tiri for a moment and then turned, leaving the room and shutting the door loudly behind him. The click of the lock was loud.

Tiri sighed softly. "Where are you Simon?" she asked, before moving over to slowly turn off the camera.

Immediately after the camera turned off, a small red sign appeared on the screen.

_**Warning, next part damaged.**_

Before anyone could react to that, the video came back on. Static filled the screen, then River's face appeared.

She moved closer, her face filling the screen. "I can see you." She whispered, her breath fogging up the screen.

The screen fritzed again, then Tiri was there.

She was in another room. No one else was there, and everything was white. She looked at the screen blankly. "Down the rabbit hole." She said, smiling slightly. "Everything's upside down and backwards. I have no mission. Nothing. Zip. Nada. Nein. Nyet." She started laughing softly. "River's gone, birdie flown away."

The screen went blank, and then the screaming started. It filled the room, causing everyone to cover their ears. It went on forever, before cutting off. A soft laugh replaced it, and River was there.

She smiled a slightly loopy smile at the camera. "Ninety are dead. I passed. I think that I get an extra blueberry at lunch."

Tiri's face came back on, but though her mouth was moving, no sound came out.

Then it was River's, smiling, laughing. The screen changed and she was screaming, curled into a ball. Blood coated her hands and dress.

And then the screen went dark.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 11**

Simon was the first to move when it was done. Getting up, he pulled her into a tight hug.

"I'm so sorry." He whispered into her hair. River hugged him back, happy that finally he understood.

"Happy." She said, attempting to voice her feelings. Simon smiled at her and hugged her again. She glanced up as Mal cleared his throat.

"Well now, this puts a different angle on things." He said calmly. Or at least, he tried to say it calmly. River could tell that he was privately upset, his mind reeling.

"She's broken." Said Tiri suddenly, interrupting Mal before he could speak again. She looked around the cabin with round eyes, before getting fluidly to her feet. She moved in a daze to a table next to Inara's bed, and picked up a dish.

Inara made a choked sound and moved towards her, but before she could do anything, Tiri snapped the plate in half.

She held up the two pieces to the crew, and then placed them back together. Even though River knew that there was a crack, she couldn't see it.

"River." Said Tiri matter-of-factly. She let the pieces fall to the floor. River watched calmly as they shattered, thousands of pieces flying everywhere. "Me." Stated Tiri.

"Whoa now," said Wash nervously, eying Zoe as she put her hand on her pistol, "Girl's crazy."

Tiri glared at him. "Broken." She snapped angrily. Mal nodded.

"Time for broken girl to go to her room." He stated, motioning towards Jayne. Jayne shot a nervous glance at Tiri.

"Mal," he started, "Maybe we should just let her be." Mal glared at him.

"I'm captain of this ship, and what I says goes. Jayne, you'll take Tiri back to her cabin and lock her in. Tomorrow we'll be landing on Atlanta and we'll drop her off there."

"Mal!" said Kaylee reproachfully, "What about those videos?"

Mal shrugged. "Way I see it, those videos don't tell us anything that we don't already know. What I do know though is that we cannot have two crazy assassins wandering around my boat. Once we get rid of one of them, we can deal with the other, dong ma?" With that he left the cabin, his footfalls heavy in the corridor.

With a grimace Jayne helped Tiri out of the cabin, heartened by the fact that she really didn't seem to know what was happening.

River watched them all go, then bent to help Inara with the smashed plate.

"No!" cried Inara, moving forward to restrain her. She forced a smile. "Maybe I should do this River," she said softly.

River nodded and left the cabin, hearing her brother right behind her. She decided to go and find a snack. She thought there were still some apples left.

Humming tunelessly to herself, she wandered towards the kitchen.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 12**

Several minutes later, River sat down at the table with a bowl of canned peaches. She felt slightly bad for taking the last of them, but she was hungry and they were the only things remotely good that she could find that were ready in a couple of minutes.

She took a bite, savoring the sweetness. She felt bad for Tiri, locked in her room, and decided to bring her some paint later so she could vent her frustration to.

Of course, River didn't plan on having Tiri leave the ship. If she had to, River had thought up several plans that would involve her taking control of the ship and threatening to steer them into a sun. Even without Tiri's help, she knew that she was more than a match for the crew.

With a sigh, she stared into her peaches. She didn't want to go to Atlanta. It was all hospitals and needles and doctors. She frowned suddenly.

A trace of blue was spiraling through her peaches. She leaned closer, trying to get a good look. It was so blue, her eyes and head ached from the color. She bit back a scream, trying to force all the bad memories back into her head. She imagined a bank vault and threw them into it, locking it. But the vault had cracks and the blue slipped through, weaving its way closer.

And suddenly, she knew. The crew couldn't stop on Atlanta. They were waiting. From the screams now echoing from Tiri's bunk, it would seem she was not the only one aware.

She leaped from her seat, her hand accidentally knocking the peach bowl from the table. She winced at the noise and then launched herself over the shards of china and peach juice, racing towards Tiri.

She had to warn them. They were all going to die.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 13**

River ran down to Tiri's room, skidding to a stop outside of the door. Both Mal and Simon were there, trying to unlock the door and get to the screaming girl inside.

Turning around, Simon noticed River. He opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by Mal.

"Simon," he snapped irritably, "Get your gorram sister away from here. I can't deal with two crazy people at one time." Simon winced and moved towards River.

River frowned and baked away, desperately trying to force out the words that were all tangled in her mind. "Don't land." She managed. "Please, can't leave." She started crying. "Can't make us, please. Please, no doctors, no blue." She shoved past Mal and Simon and into Tiri's room.

Tiri lay on the floor, her eyes wide with terror, screaming. The second she saw River she scrambled to her feet.

"Don't land." She begged Simon. "Canary in the coal mine, boom, pretty red dots." She looked at River for support, and River obliged.

"Pretty red dots, and if you resist, red will flow and paint the wall. They're coming, can't stop the signal." She stumbled forward and grabbed Simon's arm.

"Please." She whispered. Simon wrapped his arms around River ad looked nervously at Mal.

"I don't know what's going on here." He said in an undertone.

"Isn't it obvious?" said Mal in annoyance. "These two just don't want to leave each other. Doc, I am all for sticking it to those gorram Alliance bastards, but I can't have two crazy people running around my boat. Jayne's locked himself in his cabin because he's scared for his life, Inara is all upset about a 'priceless vase,' Zoe is scared, Wash is scared, and Kaylee is scared. I don't know what the Shepherd feels like, he doesn't talk very much."

He moved forward, towards Tiri, who was leaning against the wall, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Are you upset because we're landing and you don't want us to?" he asked kindly. Tiri nodded, looking gratified that someone understood what she was saying.

Mal nodded, satisfied, and turned back to Simon, who was gripping a now thrashing River.

"I suggest giving her a smoother." Mal said, ushering everyone from the room and locking the door.

River shook her head and tried to speak, but the words wouldn't come. She didn't resist as Simon gently pulled her back to her bedroom and laid her down on the bed, tucking her in with a blanket.

"No." she managed weakly as Simon gently stuck the smoother into her arm. She tried to fight the darkness, but it grabbed her and pulled her under.

Simon smiled wanly at the sleeping girl and leaned over to kiss her. With a small sigh, he settled himself down next to her, present for when she woke up again.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 14**

Simon felt the ship land, the vibrations awakening him from the light doze he had fallen into. Next to him, River slept peacefully.

Getting up, he exited the cabin softly, trying not to disturb her. He walked down to the cargo bay, to assemble with the rest of the crew. Everyone but Mal was already there.

Jayne and Book were sitting on the weight machine, talking quietly. It still surprised Simon that wild, criminal Jayne and the peaceful Shepherd Book got on so well. To each his own.

Kaylee and Inara were also sitting together, and so were Zoe and Wash. As Simon moved to sit with Kaylee and Inara, Mal walked in.

In his arms was an unconscious Tiri. Mal had a small stream of blood trickling down his nose.

"She hit me." He said for an explanation. Inara got up gracefully.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing Mal?" she asked quietly. Mal gave her his trademark smile.

"It's easy. We just drop her off in the refugee ward."

"And what if they find her again? She'll lead them straight to us!" Mal gave her a long searching look.

" 'Nara, would you rather I chucked her out of the airlock?" Inara bit her lip but didn't protest. Simon noticed that Book didn't look happy either.

"Right then." Said Mal. "Someone open the doors. This girl's getting a mite heavy."

The doors opened loudly, squealing and protesting the whole time. In the bright sunlight, Simon blinked, slightly taken aback.

The planet itself looked like a hospital, white and shining, all the buildings brand new. It was also deserted, there was not a soul in sight.

"Well then." Said Mal into the silence. "This place is a bit creepifying if I do say so myself." Zoe nodded her approval.

"Damn right sir." The crew slowly moved out of the ship. Kaylee started to close the doors when loud footsteps clattered inside.

It was River, looking disheveled. "Wait." She said, running up to Simon and slipping her hand into his. "I'm coming to."

Simon opened his mouth to protest, but then thought better of it. Kaylee shut the ship up and they started towards a small building to the right of them.

When they got inside, Simon felt slightly disconcerted when he noticed that it was also empty, save the receptionist at the desk.

She cast a curious glance over the crew before noticing the still-unconscious Tiri.

"What's wrong with her?" she asked brusquely. Mal smiled charmingly.

"We found her knocked out. She came to in a bit, raving mad. From what we could make out, she's an orphan, parents dead. We brought her to you cause we thought she might be a little, you know." He twirled his finger around his ear.

The receptionist nodded and pointed them towards a door on the right. "Blue door, can't miss it." Mal nodded and started walking, the crew following.

Simon noticed that River was staring at the receptionist, and quickly pulled her away.

They walked for a long time, passing no one. Jayne was grumbling, and even Kaylee looked a little upset.

Finally, they arrived at the door. Which, naturally, was when problems started happening. River started sobbing and babbling, trying to pull them away from the door.

"River," said Simon, exasperated. "We can't take care of your friend. Just say goodbye." She kept crying, but let them push her through the door.

Simon closed the door behind them and turned around. The room was large and completely empty, with white walls and a cement floor.

"Mal, I think that something's wrong." Said Jayne, turning around and around in circles.

Suddenly, River started laughing, a hysterical giggle that put Simon even more on edge than before. She pulled her hand away from Simon and moved to the center of the room.

"Bears followed the honey." She laughed. Simon saw that there were still tears streaming down her cheeks. "Followed the bait, stupid bears. Now we're caught and they're angry." She sank to the floor, sobbing and laughing.

Simon moved towards her but was held back by Mal, who had deposited the sleeping Tiri on the floor.

"River," Mal said, a trace of fear in his voice, "Who's here?" She smiled at him.

"They are." She lifted her hand and pointed behind them. Two men stood there. One was tall, with red hair and an impassive face. The other was shorter, dark haired and smiling. Their eyes were blank and cold. They both wore blue gloves.

"River Tam," said the smiling one, "You've been a very naughty girl."


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 15**

River screamed, falling to the floor into a ball. Simon tried to move, to reach his sister, but the effort seemed to be beyond him. His feet felt like they were glued to the floor.

The smiling man moved forwards slightly, his companion mirroring him.

"Please." Whispered River from behind Simon. "Please, I'll come with you. Don't make me hurt Simon. Please. I'll come with you." She scrambled to her feet, moving towards the men.

Wrenching his feet free, Simon jumped forward and grabbed River, holding onto her even though she struggled and sobbed.

"You're not taking her." He said, his voice hoarse with fear. Simon saw Mal move forward, Jayne reluctantly following him. Zoe, ever faithful, come up on his other side. Book and Wash were holding onto Kaylee and Inara, who were both crying. Tiri still lay unconscious on the floor.

"If you take River," Mal said strongly, "You'll have to get through all of us." The man's smile grew even larger.

"Oh, that won't be a problem." He said silkily. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small object, not unlike a pen in size and shape.

"Do you know what this is?" He didn't wait for them to answer.

"This is a device that causes a massive electric pulse that causes your body to bleed massively on the inside. The blood will come out of your eyes, and your nose, and out from under your fingernails. So you see, us getting through you won't be a problem."

River laughed hysterically. "No pretty red dots for you!" She exclaimed in a sing-song voice, tears still streaming down her face. "The red will come and overflow and paint the walls. Knock knock, no one home."

The smiling man regarded her calmly. "I see that Ms. Tam is still as coherent as ever." He remarked calmly. He looked at Mal. "Additionally, we could reach a compromise."

Mal glared at him, opening his mouth to respond in the negative, but Jayne spoke first.

"What type of compromise?" The man smiled, not that he did much else.

"We take Ms. Tam and her darling brother, along, of course, with our other operative," he said, pointing at Tiri, "And we'll leave you with a warning." His smile dropped off of his face. "On the other hand, you can decide to fight. I assure you the consequences of that would be most disastrous."

Mal glared. "We'll fight." He looked at River. "You gonna help us little Albatross?"

Simon felt a sharp pain in his wrist, and his arms were empty. River stood two feet away, facing Mal.

"Can't," she whispered, "they'll activate me. Make me fight. Wake her." At her words, Tiri stirred slightly.

"Ms. Tam seems to have an excellent sense of casualties," the man said calmly. "We would most definitely activate her. And, of course, in the action it would be so _difficult_ to time the order to desist at exactly the right time. There might be, shall we say, additional casualties."

"No!" screamed River. "No you promised, not Simon. Please don't make me kill him." She stood, shaking and crying in the middle of the two factions.

Simon took a step towards her.

"Don't touch!" River snapped. The man nodded slightly.

"I don't think kill would be the right word. More like _maim_. After all, it would be very difficult to escape if he was in a wheelchair." At this, his partner smiled. It was much, much scarier than when he did it. It wasn't so much a smile as it was showing his teeth.

He snapped something in a different language, and Tiri twitched, then opened her eyes. She looked around the room in slight confusion, then stood up, her eyes hardening.

"It's very interesting how she broke free of her programming." Said the shorter man. "We'll have to work on that."

River stepped closer. "I'll come." She whispered. "Don't make me kill them."

"No, you won't go with them." Snapped Mal. "Jayne." With a smile, Jayne pulled out a gun, pointing it directly at the smaller man.

"I'm very annoyed right now." He said, "And when I get angry, I tend to shoot the first person that's handy. In this case, it's you. I can pull this trigger before you can activate your little gizmo."

Simon felt a sinking feeling in his stomach as he regarded the man. He didn't look very frightened.

"River," the man said softly. Simon saw River turn, her eyes full of terror. Three steps brought her level with Jayne.

"Please," she whispered. "Please." Mal looked at her in confusion.

"Don't worry River, you won't be going with them." River suddenly smiled. A chill swept through Simon.

"Mal-" he said, starting forward. River didn't wait for him to finish. She lunged, grabbing Jayne's gun and ripping it out of his hands, then turned, her foot coming up in a sweeping motion to connect with his head.

Jayne fell without a sound, and River turned, nailing Mal in the throat with her elbow. He staggered backwards, choking, and River grabbed Jayne's gun and turned it on Zoe, who was in the process of moving towards Mal.

The whole thing took less than fifteen seconds.

"Excellent job Ms. Tam." Said the man, sounding delighted. "You obviously haven't lost your touch."

Just then, Wash let outa cry, and rushed forwards. River didn't even flinch, her gun coming around to slam with a sickening crack into Wash's head. Zoe dropped to her knees, cradling Wash.

Kaylee let out a scream, and Inara held her as she sobbed, her own tears falling down her face. Book made a motion, as if to move forward, but stopped when River looked at him.

"River?" Tried Simon, worried and sick. She looked at him, and Simon saw nothing of his little mei-mei in her eyes. She was a weapon, deadly and utterly soulless.

"Time to go." She said sweetly, lowering her gun. She moved towards the men, falling into step next to Tiri, who was making her way to the door. Simon looked at the unconscious Wash and Jayne, at the still-choking Mal, at Book's look of ill-conceived horror and the sobbing women. Only Zoe looked the same, her face expressionless as she cradled Wash in her arms.

He moved forward. The second he reached the men, they grabbed his arms, ensuring that he wouldn't make a break for it.

As they reached the door, River turned to look at him. "I did this for you." She said. "You are to important to die." For a second, he saw her eyes falter, saw some of the coldness replaced by terror, but then it was gone.

"Time to go home." She said, turning away from him and continuing out the doors.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 16**

"What are you going to do with me anyway?" Simon demanded as he was pulled along by the two men with blue hands. In front of him, River and Tiri walked, perfectly in step with each other.

The smaller man looked at him calmly, no hint of a smile on his face.

"Oh Mr. Tam, I'm sure you will be very useful. In the past, your _darling_ sister has resisted us as much as she was able to. With you in our custody, she will have no choice. The same goes for you. If you try to break out, there are all sorts of things that we can make your sister do. Oh yes, the possibilities are absolutely endless."

They finally stopped in front of a silver shuttle.

"Get in," demanded the taller man, releasing his grip on Simon. For a second, Simon was tempted to run, but rational sense won out. He wouldn't be going anywhere without his sister.

He reluctantly climbed into the shuttle, which was divided in two. The room he was forced to get into was surprisingly large, with stainless steel walls, floor, and ceiling. A bench wrapped around the whole room.

Simon walked over to one wall and sat down. The other four people also entered. The shorter man said something in a foreign language to River, and she frowned, confusion flickering in her eyes, before awareness claimed her.

She shrieked and stumbled backwards, away from the men, and collapsed on the floor next to Simon's feet, shaking and crying.

Simon instantly bent down and wrapped his arms around River.

"Wasn't me," she sobbed. "Wasn't me, they made me. I'm sorry, please, I'm sorry." Simon made soothing noises in the back of his throat and rocked her gently. Slowly, her sobs slowed, and she relaxed.

The men didn't show reaction to this, and Simon bit back a wave of fury as he realized that they saw this probably everyday. Tiri hadn't moved.

The taller man handed her a pistol and a blanket, and she went to sit on the far wall, curling her legs up under her, the pistol held loosely in her right hand. The blanket sat untouched next to her.

"Now then Mr. Tam," said the shorter man, "You wanted to know what we were going do to you." The taller man briefly left the room, then returned with a large tray, which he dropped into the center of the room.

Simon shifted to get a closer view, then frowned when he saw that it held three plates filled with food and three cups with what looked like water in them.

"Ah, I can see your confusion," said the short man softly. "Two of the plates of food and two of the glasses of water are poisoned. Nothing deadly of course, but you might feel a little, shall we say, under the weather for a couple of hours.

"Rive here is going to tell you which plate to eat from, and which glass to drink from. We believe that she might be more willing to perform when the stakes are a little higher."

He smiled unpleasantly and the two of them left the room, the door sliding shut soundlessly behind them. In the silence that followed, Simon heard the unmistakable click of a lock.

Simon was tempted to ignore the plates, but he had a feeling that this might make the men angry, and he had a funny feeling he did not want to antagonize them.

He pushed himself to his feet and walked over to the tray. River gave a small whimper and scrambled after him.

She gave the tray a searching glance, then grabbed one of the glasses and held it out to him.

"This one," she whispered softly, obviously distressed. Simon gave her a reassuring and downed the glass. He place the still-half-full glass down next to him, and looked expectantly at the plates, trying to treat this as if it was just a game, hoping that she wouldn't go into a psychotic fit.

River stared at the plates for a long time, chewing her lip, eyes wide and glassy with a combination of terror and unshed tears.

Finally, she snatched up one of the plates and thrust it at Simon. He ate carefully, offering her some of his food and water, but she refused both. He figured that she was worried about getting sick also, and he felt a flash of anger for being the guinea pig. He didn't like the fact that his well-being was entirely dependent on his insane.

The second that thought passed through his mind, Simon could have killed himself. He hated the flash of sadness and hurt that flashed across River's face before she reached out and quickly scooped up some of his food-which was the consistency and flavor of mashed potatoes- and ate it.

When Simon was done, and had decided that he was not going to be sick, he supported River back to their bench and sat down next to her.

She was shivering, and he wished that he could warm her up. A sudden movement from across the room startled him, and he jumped as he saw Tiri casually crossing the floor.

She stopped next to River and tucked her blanket around her, then stood there, confusion evident in her eyes, before turning around and going back to her post.

"They rushed," whispered River quietly to Simon. "There are mistakes, holes. Sometimes she knows what's happening." She relaxed into Simon, her breathing slowing down until she was deeply asleep.

Simon held onto her tightly and wished that he could sleep, but he had a feeling that kept him awake.

A feeling that things were going to get much, much worse. And with the way things were currently, that was saying something.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 17**

River was floating. From where she hovered, she cold see the whole room. She was slumped against Simon, covered in a blanket. Simon looked pale, and he had his arms wrapped around her.

Silly Simon, he thought he could keep the monsters away. He didn't know that the monsters were inside of her.

In the corner, Tiri sat, her eyes closed, the pistol hanging limply in her hand. River knew that she was still awake. She was activated, she was incapable of sleep, of feeling hunger, or exhaustion, or pain.

River remembered the first time they had triggered her. She had awoken to find herself lying on the floor, unable to recall the last couple of hours. To River, that wasn't unusual, but it had been like a fog. She could almost, but not quite, remember. Usually her memories were just _gone_, like they had been erased.

She had felt like she could sleep forever, but there was a hunger in her stomach, like it was eating itself. When she moved, trying to sit up, pain had lanced through her, making her dizzy. Glancing down, she had seen blood, already dried, coating her arm.

River shook her head, shaking off the memory. She looked around again and saw blue threads gathered near the door.

She moved herself towards the door, passing through it like it was vapor. River frowned, knowing she was dreaming. She didn't like her dreams, the monsters always came for her eventually.

Outside the blue stretched onwards, and she felt herself following it, pulled forwards against her will.

She found herself in the other room of the shuttle. This one was smaller, the front half filled with piloting equipment.

In the pilot's chair, the taller man, the quiet one, sat. River cringed, she could feel his mind. It was empty, but not quiet and peaceful. It was cold, alien. Blue filled it, and when she tried to touch it burned her.

The other man stood behind him, eyes straight forward, not blinking. His mind was worse. It wasn't empty like his companion's. It was blue to, but the blue was threaded with red. There were thoughts, emotions, but they were cold. He knew only hate. There was no sunshine like in Kaylee's mind.

She whimpered, trying to leave, to vacate their minds and this room, to go back to Simon and her blanket. The smaller man turned to look at her, his cold blue eyes expressionless.

"What do you want from me?" she whispered, the words wrenched out of her. The man smiled at her, sending chills down her spine.

"Oh Ms. Tam, we want everything." Then he lunged for her, his face transfiguring to that of a wolf with red eyes and drooling jaws filled with yellow teeth.

River screamed, struggling to move. With a start she woke up, heart pounding, sweat making her forehead sticky.

"River, what's wrong?" Simon whispered, holding her close, moving the blanket back up to her shoulders. River shook her head, tears streaming down her face.

"They want everything Simon," she sobbed. "They want her mind to hear everything, and her body to control." Simon held her closer, and slowly River drifted off, falling gratefully into the black.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 18**

The next test came the following morning.

Simon had spent almost the whole night awake, one eye always focused on the assassin in the corner. He didn't trust her as far as he could throw her, which probably wouldn't be far, seeing how she could break his neck in seconds.

River, after her nightmare, had slept soundly, Tiri's blanket wrapped tightly around her. He had just been about to wake her up when the door opened, revealing only the shorter man. Simon deduced that the other evil scientist was up front, flying the shuttle.

When he came into the room, Tiri's eyes instantly flicked open, proving Simon's suspicions that her appearance of sleep was a ruse. River tensed, her eyes still squeezed shut.

"Oh dear, it looks like Ms. Tam is still asleep," said the man calmly. From the look he was giving her, Simon knew that he knew that she was just faking.

"Do get up Ms. Tam, or I fear Simon might suffer an accident." At his words, Tiri's gun lifted up, pointing at his head. River instantly opened her eyes and stood up, the blanket dropping to the floor.

Simon noticed the man's eyes going to the blanket, and could have sworn a slight frown flickered over his face, but it was gone a moment later.

"We have something very interesting today," the man enthused. River whimpered, and Simon felt a thrill of fear. The man briefly turned around and picked up a small black suitcase that must have been in the hallway outside, hidden behind the door.

He advanced towards Simon, and River let out a muffled sob. "Please," she whispered, "Please don't." Simon swallowed, his throat suddenly dry.

The man stopped only a few feet from Simon, and dropped the suitcase. He bent down and quickly unzipped it, then pulled out what looked like a tangle of wires. Simon quickly stood up, and heard the click of a gun as across the room Tiri's gun disengaged it's safety, pointing straight at him.

Simon ignored that and took a step towards River, wrapping his arms around her.

"Electricity," she hissed, "I don't like Benjamin Franklin." Simon's lips twitched upwards in a brief smile.

"Mr. Tam, please, come here," said the man. Simon hesitated for a split second before moving away from River. The man held out to wires with small bandages. "Attach these to your forehead."

Simon had a very bad feeling about this now, but he reached out and took the wires anyway. He slowly stuck them on his head. River let out a small groan.

Simon turned and stretched out his hand, but she turned away, tears streaming down her cheeks.

The man pulled something else out. Simon saw that it was a panel of buttons, all identical, probably twenty in all. The man noticed him noticing.

"Your sister was most uncooperative on this test back at the academy. We believe that with you as the test subject, she will have, how do I say it, _proper_ motivation." With that, he turned and left the room, the door once again locking behind him. Simon was tempted to pull off the wires but decided against it. If he did, the man would probably return and either tie him down or have Tiri hold a gun to his head.

"So, what do you have to do?" he asked River, shooting for lighthearted. River shot him an anguished glance, but walked over to him, then bent down, examining the buttons.

"Five won't hurt you. Fifteen will harm you." Simon blinked, then nodded, understanding. Fifteen of the buttons must be connected to the wires, sending a burst of electricity through the wires. Simon prayed that wouldn't happen, from River's reaction it must be extremely painful.

"Have you done this before?" he asked, already knowing the answer. River looked up and nodded.

"Three hundred and twenty two times. On rats." Simon nodded.

"Did you ever manage it?" he asked hopefully. River shook her head. Simon winced.

"I'm screwed." A flash of hurt crossed River's face, and she jabbed one of the buttons suddenly. Simon braced himself, but nothing happened.

River smiled slightly, then poked another button. Once again, nothing happened. A flash of movement startled him, and he jerked backwards seeing Tiri coming over them, pistol in hand.

She ignored him though, bending over to examine the buttons. Simon half expected her to poke one of the electric ones, just to cause him pain. She didn't though. She gave the buttons another cursory glance, then turned away.

Simon breathed a sigh of relief, then yet out a strangled gasp as she whirled around and hit one of the buttons.

Simon waited, but nothing happened, again. Tiri regarded him with a small smile and turned back around, going back to her bench.

"Holes," said River calmly, as if that explained everything. Simon gave her a weak smile, and she reached down to poke another button. Simon breathed a sigh of relief once again.

"Only one more to go," he encouraged. River didn't seem to hear him, her hand fluttering over one button, then another. She couldn't seem to choose between two buttons.

"Pick the one on the top," Simon said, not wanting her to have too much pressure. River gave him a doubtful expression and poked the one he had told her to poke.

Simon relaxed slightly when nothing happened, then let out a cry of agony as his body convulsed explosively, wracked with pain. It stopped almost as soon as it started, leaving him seeing red and yellow fireworks. River hastily poked the other button then jumped up and ripped off the wires before collapsing in his arms, sobbing hysterically.

Simon gingerly hugged her back, his arms feeling like undercooked noodles. He caught Tiri's eyes as she watched them. She tilted her head slightly, and for a second her eyes seemed slightly more human.

"Only one more test," she called out, "and then we'll be _there_." Simon nodded slightly. Then bent his head down, his lips pressed against River's ears.

"We'll escape. I promise." He felt River nod into his shoulder.

"I can get us out," she whispered back, her voice slightly raspy. "But if we get caught they'll make me cripple you."

"Then we won't get caught. We can head back to Serenity." River pulled away from him, swiping her eyes. She tilted her head to the side a little.

"They're coming for us already."


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 19**

River glanced up disinterestedly as Tiri once again clicked the safety off of her gun and pointed it at Simon. She already done this seventeen times, mostly because Simon kept getting in a five-foot radius of her.

Like always, Simon immediately froze, then started to move around again, pacing. River reflected idly that some people, in this situation, would tell Simon that 'he was wearing a track in the floor.' River, of course, didn't say this, mostly because it was highly improbable that Simon would wear a hole into a stainless steel floor with only his shoes. The other reason, of course, was that it would require tremendous effort to force the words into the proper order and out of her mouth.

The door opened again. Simon froze, Tiri put her gun back down, and River instinctively reached out with her mind, trying to figure out what they wanted from her this time.

It was the empty man's mind that she encountered though, and she quickly pulled away, not wanting to get burned.

A tray of food was shoved through the door before it closed again. River watched as Simon warily approached the food.

"Is this another test?" he asked with trepidation. River got up off of her bench and walked over, bending down to sniff it.

"It's fine," she stated, dropping down onto the floor. Simon hesitantly sat down next to her.

"Why did you sniff it?" he inquired curiously. "Were you smelling for poison?" River glanced at him and rolled her eyes.

"No. Psych." Simon frowned, considering that, then laughed.

"You were just teasing me? Brat." River gave him a weak smile, and reached for one of the mashed potato plates. Simon moved to take the other one, then paused.

"Wait," he said frowning, "What about _her_?" he jerked his head at Tiri. "There are only two plates."

River nodded, idly swirling her finger through the food, drawing a caricature of Simon.

"She's not hungry. Later." Simon shot her a confused glance then slowly nodded, taking a small bite of his food. River stopped drawing in her food, then gave it a cursory look.

Suddenly, she hated the plate. It represented her captivity, her being forced to do the will of the blue handed men. So she did the only thing she could think of. She threw it at the wall. Simon's followed quickly.

"River!" yelled Simon, staring at the glop now slowly dripping down the wall. River felt a small smile spring to her lips.

Across the room, Tiri slowly stood up and walked over to the food, reaching out to hesitantly touch it. River understood what she was doing, even though Simon didn't. As part of her activation, she was bound to check out all things that were considered hazardous, even at her own risk.

Tiri stood there for several seconds, staring at the stuff on her hands, then wiped it down the wall and went to sit back down.

Simon glanced from River to Tiri and back. "You know," he whispered, "I'm beginning to think that there's something wrong with her."

River burst into hysterical laughter, and Simon gave a pleased, if slightly surprised, smile.

River quickly sobered, hearing footsteps coming down the passage. It was the short man now, and he wasn't happy.

"Angry," she whimpered to Simon, curling herself up in to a ball and trying to meld with his side. Simon glanced down at her, puzzled, but quickly adopted a knowing look when the door opened again.

The short man walked straight over to River and grabbed her by the arm, pulling her up so fast Simon didn't have time to react.

River made herself go limp, knowing from past experience that he would get more upset if she fought back.

Next to her, Simon scrambled to his feet only to find himself caught in a headlock, a gun pressed into the back of his head. It was, of course, Tiri, and Simon didn't even bother to struggle.

"And what did you think to accomplish with that little display of rebellion?" asked the man coldly. River gave he tiniest of shrugs.

"Well obviously she wanted better food," said Simon before he could help himself. River felt tears start to flow down her cheeks. She knew exactly what was going to happen next.

She chanced a glance at Simon and saw that his eyes were wide with terror, quite taken aback at his own stupidity.

The man released River and she quickly stumbled backwards, trying to make herself invisible.

"Really?" asked the man politely, his gaze focused on Simon. "Do you want better food Ms. Tam?" River quickly shook her head.

"No." The man nodded, then turned away from Simon and walked over to River, who froze instantly.

Bending down, she heard him whisper a command inside her ear. She screamed on the inside, falling almost instantly to a state of detachedness.

She watched with horror as her body stepped away from the man and walked gracefully over to stand in front of Simon, who looked very, very scared.

River pulled back her fist and then lashed out, her hand sinking deeply into Simon's stomach. He doubled over gasping, tears streaming down his face. River felt grateful to Tiri for holding him for a split second longer than she needed to, otherwise Simon would have been slammed backwards into the wall.

The man snapped another command to River and left the room. The second the lock clicked River fell to her knees, her hand throbbing, now fully back in possession of her body.

She stumbled upwards and over to Simon where she threw her arms around him. Simon hesitated for a split second before hugging her back, but River noticed and it felt like she had been stabbed with a knife.

"Wasn't me," she sobbed, "Wasn't me, wasn't me, wasn't me!" Simon's arms contracted for a second before he released her, his hands moving to take off his shirt.

River let out a strangled sob when she saw his stomach. It was already purple, red, and blue-black. She knew that it was going to be a lot worse, and much more painful in the morning.

"Sorry," she whispered, turning away. Simon gave her a weird spasm that was his attempt of a smile and ran his hands gently down the bruise.

River turned around to help, picking up the blanket and tearing it quickly to bind the wound. When it wrapped up tightly, River helped her brother over to the bench and slowly sat him down before going over to curl up on the opposite side of the bench, not wanting to hurt Simon anymore.

Across the room, Tiri watched expressionlessly. "You didn't break anything," she finally said. Simon shot her a tell-me-something-I-don't-know look and pointedly ignored her. Tiri didn't seem particularly bothered by this and went back to examining her gun, checking and re-checking it to make sure it was still all right.


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 20**

River stirred slightly, shifting her position again. She couldn't sleep, the recent horrors were still fresh in her mind.

She glanced over at Tiri, but her old friend's eyes were closed, the hand holding the gun trailing loosely on the floor. River slowly got up, trying not to disrupt Tiri. She knew that she wasn't sleeping of course, but it was an old game that they used to play, back before school became a nightmare.

River smiled in triumph, pleased that she hadn't alerted Tiri, and wandered over to give Simon a onceover.

The makeshift bandages were wrapped tightly around his chest, but River almost started crying when she took a closer look. Red, blue, purple, and even black tinged with green bruises blossomed out from under the protection of the bandage and spread across his chest.

River bit her lip, upset that she had done that herself. Simon shifted, moaning in pain as his bruises hit the metal, and continued his dream of a reaver attack.

River quickly blocked his mind, not wanting to wake him by screaming. He needed to rest to heal.

She slowly walked back to her seat and wrapped her arms around her knees, drawing them to her chest. Across the room, Tiri opened her eyes and gave River an inquisitive glance.

"What's wrong?" she called out. River smiled slightly to herself. _Holes_, she thought happily. Tiri wasn't behaving right.

"Scared," she answered after a pause. Tiri looked concerned for a second, then she just looked confused, not understanding what was happening.

"What's wrong?" she asked after a second. River's smile grew larger, then slowly faded.

"Simon's hurt. It's my fault. Bad girl, should be punished." Tiri nodded, the answer making perfect sense to her. In that second, River missed her friend even more than she usually did. She missed the old Tiri, who always comforted her after she had a nightmare or a session with Dr. Mathias.

River got up and walked across the room towards Tiri, who's gun went up almost immediately, her confused look changing to blank indifference. River stopped two feet in front of her, the gun almost touching her chest.

"I had a bad dream," she said quietly, gauging Tiri's reactions. Tiri blinked, the gun wavering slightly. River felt a tear trickle down her cheek as she recalled the dream that she had, the dream that had kept her awake all night for fear that if she fell asleep again she would scream and wake up Simon.

"It was dark," she whispered, "and the blue was everywhere. There was a needle in my arm and I went to pull it out and I couldn't move my hand because I was gone and River was no more and the raging river babbling brook was all dammed up and gone and the blue was around me and in me and I was broken and all the sharp pieces were inside of me and I couldn't scream," she finished, the tears streaming down her face and her breaths coming in sobs.

Tiri's gun slowly lowered and River took a deep breath, closing her eyes tightly against the images her words had conjured up. She felt a pair of arms wrap around her, holding her tightly, like Simon did.

River opened her eyes and looked at Tiri, who looked completely confused as to why she was comforting River.

River pulled away from Tiri and laid down where Tiri had been sitting for the past day or so. Tiri sat down next to River and wrapped an arm around her.

River fell asleep, happy that she hadn't woken up Simon.


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 21**

Simon jerked awake, positive that there was a reaver inches away from his face. He lay there for a second, gasping, before he slowly opened his eyes.

The sight that met them caused him to sit up quickly. The pain that met that move caused him to shut his eyes and bite his lip, struggling to not let the pain knock him unconscious.

Slowly, the pain faded, to be replaced by a dull ache. Simon inched open his eyes, then, when no more pain hit him, he resumed gawking at the other side of the room.

River lay stretched out along the far wall bench, her head almost touching one wall. But that wasn't the cause for Simon's concern.

Tiri was also laying down, her feet and River's feet almost touching. Her head brushed the opposite wall, and her eyes were closed, her right arm dangling off of the bench, the gun brushing the floor.

Simon stared in mute horror, struggling against his instincts to get up and pull River across the room. Almost as if she had heard his thoughts, Tiri opened her eyes, her hand tightening around her gun.

Simon glared at her, but she didn't use it. She pushed herself up until she was sitting cross-legged. River stirred at the movement, before she also sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes with one hand.

Noticing he was awake, River hopped down from the bench and ran over to him, not seeming to notice that she had been inches from death.

"Simon!" she exclaimed, skidding to a stop in front of him. "You're awake." Simon stared at her in shock.

"River," he finally managed hoarsely, "Why were you sleeping next to _her_?" River frowned slightly, then shrugged.

"I had a bad dream," she explained. Simon briefly closed his eyes.

"You could have woken me up." River shook her head.

"You needed to heal." She pointed at his chest. Simon glanced down at it and grimaced at the sight. The bruises were more vivid today.

"Sorry," whispered River sadly. Simon gave her a weak grin.

"Don't worry, I've had worse." River grinned, knowing he was lying just to make her feel better, then dropped down on the seat next to him.

"Wolves won't hurt other wolves," she said confidently, gesturing to Tiri. Simon nodded slowly, not even pretending he knew what she was talking about.

"Okay." River sighed and rolled her eyes before jumping back up and spinning around several times.

"I'm a bird," she giggled happily. She stopped abruptly and looked at Simon. "Daddy's coming," she said confidently. Simon looked at her, confused.

"Why's dad-" he stopped abruptly. "Oh, you mean Mal." River gave him a you-are-so-thick look.

"He's coming, but he won't get here in time. Tick tock goes the clock." Simon nodded.

"River, what are _they_ planning now?" he asked softly, not wanting to make her upset when she seemed happy. River's face clouded as she looked at him.

"They're angry," she whispered. "Want to poke the lab rat, make her run in circles." Simon blinked, worry etched onto his face.

"What are they going to make you do?" he asked fearfully, remembering the buttons. River winced as she heard the memory, then frowned.

"Don't want to break the rat," she said distantly, "They won't be happy if the rat comes home hurt." She looked at Simon. "It will be easy."

Simon breathed a slight sigh of relief, then tensed when he heard footsteps in the hallway. The door opened and the short man stood there, once again carrying a black bag. Simon grimaced in spite of himself.

The man smiled, and walked over to them. River immediately cringed away, trying to blend with the wall, and Simon wished that he didn't hurt so much, so that he could join her.

"Oh dear Mr. Tam, it would appear as if you were injured," said the man coldly, feigning surprise. "I wonder who could possibly be so cruel that they would punch such a nice gentleman such as yourself." River whimpered, looking upset. Simon glared at the man, trying to put all of his anger and hatred in one look. The man looked unfazed.

He glanced at River, who immediately scrambled upright, looking freaked out.

"It's a pity, but they don't want you to exhausted. So it will be relatively simple today," he said, dropping the bag on the floor. He was at the doorway when he paused. "Oh, and Ms. Tam, for your little _stunt_ the other day, you will not be eating. With that he left the room.

Simon stared after him with disbelief. "What a nice man," he remarked after a second. River let out a weak giggle as she bent over, opening the bag.

She slowly pulled out two swords, a small knife, obviously meant for throwing, and a gun. She glanced up at Simon, her eyes wide with fear.

"Um, you're not going to use those on me, right?" asked Simon, only half-joking. River shook her head, pointing at Tiri, who was all ready standing up, gun in hand as she walked towards them.

Simon gulped, not happy to watch as Tiri fought his sister right in front of him while he was powerless to help her, incapacitated as he was. River gave him a small smile and stood up, holding the throwing knife.

Tiri watched her impassively then pulled a similar knife seemingly out of nowhere. Simon flinched, but River just smiled and moved towards the center of the room. Tiri hesitated, then she reached out and dropped the gun onto Simon's lap. Her look was obviously meant to warn him off from actually _using_ it, but Simon hadn't planned on it.

One, she was a psychic and would probably know what he was planning the second it came into his mind, and two, even if he managed to point the gun at her, she could kill him before he pulled the trigger. Tiri gave a small, smug smile and walked over to join River. They exchanged glances, and River gestured for Tiri to go first.

Without moving the rest of her body, Tiri flicked her wrist and the knife split the air with a vicious hiss before thudding into the wall. Simon's eyes widened in disbelief. That was an almost impossible shot to make, even for the most experienced knives man. Tiri shot him an almost smug look, picking up on his thoughts. Simon ignored her and focused on River, who was staring at the knife.

She glanced over at him and smiled, and at the exact moment she repeated Tiri's maneuver, sending the knife thudding into the wall so close to hers that they scraped handles.

River's face lit up with happiness and her smile widened. Her eyes happily searched Simon's face, clearly wanting praise. Simon managed a weak smile.

"Good job River," he said, trying not to let her know how much she had scared him. For once, she didn't seem to notice, her smile growing even wider before she turned towards Tiri again.

"Now what?" she asked, sounding for all the world like her six-year-old self following Simon around the carnival they had attended, religiously doing everything he did. Simon smiled slightly at the memory, then let out a cry of shock when Tiri suddenly swung her arm around in a lightning fast punch at River's face.

River just ducked, then threw a punch of her own at Tiri's stomach. She blocked also, then stepped under River's guard to kick her viciously in the shin. Simon winced, wishing he could help but confined to the bench by the pain.

River didn't even blink as she spun around, her leg swinging up in a devastating kick towards Tiri's head. Tiri managed to sway away at the last second, but she was open for the fist that River drove into her stomach.

Simon's hand went involuntarily to his stomach as he remembered the devastating force that River had unleashed on him.

Tiri stumbled backwards then straightened up, not seeming to register the pain. She and River warily summed each other up, then Tiri moved, suddenly dropping forward and onto her hands. Simon was shocked by the maneuver. It required the epitome of physical perfection. Tiri managed it though, balancing on her hands on the ground, her legs stretched straight out behind her so that she resembled a board.

She swung her legs around in a circle, catching River in the ankle as she attempted to leap over them.

River fell backwards but manage to turn it into a roll. Tiri flipped herself up easily, then swung at River as she got back to her feet. River blocked, then stepped in close. Simon lost track of the fight as they whirled around each other like a mixture of warriors and ballet dancers. Finally he understood her earlier words, '_I kill to dance and dance to kill_.'

Simon didn't know how long they spun and whirled, kicked and punched until finally they both stopped, stepping backwards. They were soaked with sweat, but there was a smile on River's face. Tiri's face was completely devoid of emotion. River dropped down next to Simon and beamed at him.

"Did I do well?" she asked hopefully. All Simon could do was nod, still stunned by the fight. River smiled, then looked up at Tiri.

"Later," she said. Tiri nodded, then came over to Simon and took her gun back before going over to sit on her bench, eyes closed, appearing as though she was resting, much like River.

"We get to use swords next," exclaimed River happily, looking like a child on Christmas. Simon gave a faint smile.


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 22**

Simon looked at River, who was sitting next to him, breathing deeply. She was covered in sweat, but she didn't look very tired.

She turned to look at him, smiling brilliantly.

"That was fun," she said happily. Simon forced himself to smile. River stood up suddenly, and Tiri mirrored the movement smoothly from across the room. Simon bit his lip, trying not to think about the thousand and one ways his sister might get hurt from fighting with Tiri. Especially because they were using _swords_. And Simon had a funny feeling that they weren't fake swords either.

River picked up the two swords from where she had gently placed them on the bench. Tiri got up and walked over to her, devoid of emotion. She took one of the swords from River and dropped her gun into Simon's lap before turning around and walking to the center of the room again. River followed.

When they reached the center of the room, Simon half-expected them to take the stances that were often shown in professional sword fighting matches. He should have known better.

They stood, seemingly relaxed, their swords pointed downwards at the floor. Tiri briefly moved her sword upwards, but River didn't even flick her own sword in response.

That was the problem when you were fighting psychic vs. psychic, Simon mused. The other one always knew what the other was going to do before the other did it, and vice versa.

Tiri sighed suddenly and brought her sword around and up in a lightning fast maneuver that had Simon almost leaping to his feet in fear for River.

No worries. If anything, River was even more capable with a sword than in hand-to-hand combat.

Simon watched in disbelief as she brought her own sword up to lazily block Tiri's strike. Tiri's sword slithered off of it in a slither of steel. River immediately brought her own sword around, clumsily hacking at Tiri's neck. When Tiri moved to block, River flicked the sword down at her legs.

Tiri blocked, and then the dance began in earnest. Simon watched with a mixture of horror and interest as the two girls whirled around each other, their swords creating a steel web around them. There was something both hypnotic and beautiful about it; a dance that could only ever have two partners.

Simon didn't know how long he sat there, staring, but it felt like a few hours. Finally, finally, the movement stopped so that Simon could see both girls had their swords trained on the other's neck.

He let out a small yelp and almost got up. River instantly dropped her sword and ran over to him, shoving him back down towards the seat. It was a good thing to. Even it that small movement it felt like Simon had been lit on fire.

Tiri placed her sword on the ground and wandered over also, staring with a vague interest at Simon.

"I'm sorry," sobbed River, who seconds ago had been smiling. "I'm sorry." Simon half-extended his arms to hug River. He was stopped by something cold pressed onto his head.

He froze, arms semi-extended, and glanced sideways to see Tiri with her gun pressed to his head, glaring at River.

"My gun," she snapped angrily. Simon realized that when he had tried to hug River the gun had still been in his lap. Tiri must have thought that River was going to take it and use it.

River stared at Tiri, seemingly completely unimpressed. She had just opened her mouth to speak when a jolt rocked the ship.

River staggered slightly, windmilling her arms for balance. Simon fell over, hard, onto the bench. Tiri just stood there, not even seeming to notice.

She reached forward and grabbed Simon by the arm, dragging him none to gently upright. River had frozen in place, staring at the door with a blank expression.

Tiri dropped her gun and went over to her usual place on the bench.

"River, what's wrong?" asked Simon worriedly, wishing more than anything that he could wrap his arms around her. She turned her big blank eyes on him.

"We're here," she said hollowly. Simon felt a plummeting sensation in his stomach.

"At the Academy?" he asked, knowing that it was a redundant question. Where else would 'here' be? River didn't even deign to answer the question.

For what Simon hoped was the last time, footsteps sounded in the hallway. The door swung open to reveal the blue-handed men. The shorter one left the doorway and came over to Simon.

He slowly pulled a syringe out of his pocket. Simon flinched away automatically, but the man just reached out and grabbed him. He stuck the needle into his arm and then pulled it out. Almost at once Simon felt the dull ache that had resided in his stomach for almost a day stopped.

The man stepped back and looked at him, then at River.

"Don't even try to escape," he said coldly. He looked at Simon again. "People are coming to get you." With that he turned and started to leave the room when a voice stopped him.

"Wait," whispered River. The man paused, not even turning his head to acknowledge her.

"Tiri," said River, making the effort to speak up. The man snapped something at Tiri then left the room, taking the other man with him. The door shut, but didn't lock.

Simon looked almost fearfully at Tiri, who was standing right where she had been the whole time.

She glanced back at them, her eyes slowly thawing to confused. She looked at River, then Simon, then back at River.

"So it wasn't a dream," she said softly, her voice musical. She gave them one more puzzled glance, then she turned white and collapsed, falling soundlessly to the floor.


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 23**

Simon, following his natural instinct, jumped up. He froze almost immediately, waiting for the pain to hit, then smiled when he realized that the pain was gone. That stuff in the syringe must have really worked.

River moved towards Tiri and Simon followed, not wanting his sister to be around the crazy girl for any longer than necessary.

"Is she okay?" asked Simon softly. River looked up at him, her head tilted to one side.

"She hasn't slept for three days," she said. Simon nodded. That would make anyone faint. River turned to look at the corridor.

"Footsteps," she said. Simon turned, really hoping that it wouldn't be the two men again. Instead, the door opened to show a man in a white lab coat wearing white, not blue, gloves.

"You are to come with me," said the man coldly. Simon looked at River, wondering if she was as scared about this man as she was about the blue-handed ones. She stared at the man, looking distinctly unimpressed.

"Your wife is dead," she said suddenly. The man jumped slightly, then glared at her.

"They told me you would try to scare me by telling lies," he snapped angrily. River looked at him, eyes innocent. Simon knew that look very well. She was playing with him.

"Not a lie," she sing-songed. The man stared at her, then pulled a needle out of his coat pocket. River recoiled violently.

"I'm allowed to use this if I need to," said the man, looking slightly shaken. River didn't say anything, and the man started walking forward, towards them.

"Do we escape now?" Simon whispered quietly. River rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"They're waiting for me," she whispered softly. Simon didn't need to ask who 'they' were. The man finally reached them and bent down, easily picking up Tiri, who hung limply in his arms. Up close, Simon noticed that he was a lot taller and bigger than most lab technicians.

"Guard," hissed River under her breath, and Simon nodded. That explained it. Simon got to his feet without urging, pulling River up also. He walked slowly out of the shuttle and down into the sunlight.

He blinked, his eyes adjusting to the light, and paused, stunned by the look of the place.

The Academy was a large white building with many windows, and on the large, sprawling lawns was situated a tennis court, track, and swimming pool. This was not his mental image of the horror show that he hand been imagining.

The guard/lab guy shoved past them and Simon started forward, holding onto River, who was now crying quietly. He guessed she wasn't exactly pleased about being back here.

The inside of the school was also white, with may doors along the sides of the corridors. It was eerily quiet, the only noise was the sound of their shoes and River's muffled sobs.

The guy brought them to a room and opened it. He stepped inside and then reappeared, this time without Tiri. He gestured mockingly for them to go inside and then locked the door behind them.

Simon turned around and then sucked in a deep breath, willing himself not cry out with shock.

The room was white, with two beds. To Simon, it was immediately recognizable as the place where Tiri and River had made the videos. What shocked him though was not the familiarity of the room, but rather the things that decorated the walls.

Words, scrawled in a red ink, crowded the walls and the ceiling. Simon could recognize some, such as _River_, _therapy,_ _blue,_ and the ever repeating phrase _down the rabbit hole_. Quite a lot was obscured by the layers of words, or were written in a different language. He saw complex equations and diagrams also hidden under the meaningless babble and deduced that the layers were from different points of time in her fall from sanity.

River pulled away from him and went to the walls, trailing her finger along some of the words. She would understand what they said, of course.

Tiri lay stretched out on one of the beds, still dead to the world.

Simon jerked backwards when River suddenly appeared in front of him, startling him.

"Now we escape," she said, smiling creepily. "Just as soon as Tiri wakes up." With that, she settled herself down onto the other bed and curled up into a tight ball.


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 24**

River watched Simon out of the corner of her eye. He had been sitting in the same position for the past hour and twenty-nine minutes, just staring at Tiri.

River knew that Simon didn't trust her, but that was silly. Tiri wouldn't hurt them now that she wasn't activated. She had tried to tell Simon that, but he had just nodded and continued his scrutiny.

River stretched out her arm and let her fingers brush slowly down the walls, reading the words and the pain.

Very faintly she could feel the happiness and laughter that had filled the room for the first couple of days that she and Tiri had lived there. She could feel the sadness, the despair and fear, and finally the madness that had filled the room. And, most recently, she could Tiri try to chronicle her history on the walls, to try and organize the information that was bottled into her head and threatened to make her explode.

For once, River was glad that she couldn't hear the other children in here, except for a faint echo now and then. She used to hate it, to rave to Tiri that this world wasn't real, that it didn't exist. Sometimes, she still believed that.

Tiri shifted slightly in her sleep and Simon flinched, then resumed his normal position when she didn't jump out at him with a knife.

River slowly moved her finger across the wall, then froze when she heard Tiri's breathing alter slightly, becoming more rapid. It was a slight change, but she could pick out the pattern. Tiri was awake.

Tiri sat up suddenly, her eyes snapping open. Simon let out a rather high-pitched scream and toppled backwards off of the bed. Tiri stared at them, completely confused.

River didn't pry in her mind, it was rude. And with Tiri, she didn't have to hear the voices. She knew her friend's mind even better than Simon's, even though it was much, much more complicated. She could tune it out, make it background noise.

Simon, blushing furiously, stood back up. Tiri tilted her head.

"Simon," she stated. Simon blinked, then nodded slowly. Tiri continued looking at him, then turned her attention to River.

"Babbling brook flew back to the birdcage," she said softly. River smiled at her friend and nodded happily.

"Looked for you," Tiri continued softly, her gaze unwavering as she stared at River.

"But the river went underground and under sight, vanished and gone. Dam was punctured by the blue and I was falling, filled with holes and smashed to pieces."

River felt a tear slip down her cheek. "Sorry," she whispered. "River was to strong, took the girl and tried to drown her."

Tiri shrugged and stood up fluidly, balancing on the bed, which creaked alarmingly under her. Simon stared at her, eyes wide with horror. Tiri ignored him and looked at the ceiling, slowly tracing the words with her finger, much like River.

"Wrote it down," she said calmly. "Splashed the walls with blood, told my secrets. They liked that, made me safer, tamer, more receptive when there's no static to block the signal. It doesn't matter, can't stop the signal, it always gets through, riding on the blue and bringing the red." She stopped abruptly and pulled something out from a pocket, twirling it between her fingers. It was a red ink pen.

Tiri tossed it to River, who looked at it, then threw it as she could across the room. She watched it explode into a puddle of red, and felt happy. The blood was free, redeemed, and could make it's own life now. She looked up to see Tiri smiling back at her.

"You said she could help us escape, right?" asked Simon suddenly. River looked up at him and nodded.

"Run away," Tiri said, stepping down and off the bed and going over to Simon, who baked away uneasily.

"Want to go home," supplied River from the bed. Tiri smiled sadly, still staring at Simon.

"No home left, no paradise for me. You want to go back to Eden, don't care about the snake in the garden, waiting to tempt you." Simon blinked, then looked at River.

"What snake?" he asked worriedly, seriously hoping that there wasn't a giant python thing slithering around trying to kill people. He didn't think his nerves could handle much more.

"Ape-man," chirped River. She looked at Tiri and got up, going over to her friend to place a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"He's reformed, evolved." Tiri looked at her with a snort of disbelief.

"Jayne's a girl name," she snapped. "That's not evolution, it's all backwards, doesn't make sense. Ship's wings will fall off if you're not careful, boat to heavy with contradictions. Then where will you be? Symbol can't save you, tear it apart and it's only paper held together with ink and glue."

River smiled at her. "Jayne isn't a girl name when applied to an ape," she pointed out cheerfully. Tiri nodded, conceding the fact.

"At least fix the symbol," she said.

"Already tried," River said darkly. "Shepherd wasn't happy, released the hair on me."

"Excuse me?" chimed in Simon, dizzy from all of the psychobabble. "Are we escaping or not?" River looked at Tiri and sighed, rolling her eyes.

"He takes so much looking after," she muttered, moving towards the door. Tiri nodded in agreement and gave Simon a disparaging look before joining her.

Simon gave their backs a what-are-you-talking-about gesture then asked a question that had been weighing on his mind.

"Are they even here yet?" River nodded.

"Space. We'll steal a shuttle." The door opened with a click and the girls stepped back, satisfied.

"Wait, could you do that all along?" asked Simon. "Because if so, why didn't you escape?" Tiri shot him an annoyed glance.

"Two by two," she said by way of explanation, stepping into the hallway. River and Simon followed.

Once in the hall, River and Tiri looked from side-to-side, then started off down the corridor to the right, running softly. Simon followed, not quite as quietly, but at least not that loud.

When they reached the main hall, Simon reached out to stop them.

"Wait, it shouldn't be this easy," he warned, looking around to make sure that no blue-handed guards weren't sneaking up on them.

"Bear was supposed to hibernate longer," said River, pointing at Tiri, who didn't really seem to be paying attention.

"No guards yet, but we can kill them. Bam bam, no more. Blue ones aren't here, away. Student broke free, got scared. Wasn't fixed, stole a knife and now the red is trying to break free. Couldn't let that happen, had to make an example. Others won't play follow the leader simon says anymore. Got to follow the norm, go with the flow, blend in."

Simon blinked, trying to process all of her words.

"That's good, I think," he said slowly. River and Tiri rolled their eyes simultaneously and started running across the hall and out the front door, onto the lawn.

Muttering dire predictions under his breath, Simon followed them. River groaned softly at his muttering, and started moving towards the shuttles. She paused when she heard a guard. He was tired and wanted to go back inside.

She motioned to Tiri and crept forward, dodging Simon's hand. He was always trying to hold her back, he had to learn that the river had to flow free.

She slipped behind him and used one hand to hit his back, paralyzing him, and another to snap around and break his neck. He fell without a sound and she bent down, taking the two pistols he had.

River tossed one to Tiri and kept the other. Simon, of course, didn't get one; he would be worse than useless. The guns were only a precaution though. The sound they made was to loud and noticeable.

They only had to kill three more guards before they made it to the shuttles.

River started moving towards the shuttles then froze, the familiar voices echoing in her head.

"Blue," she gasped, freezing in her path, halfway between the shuttles and the safety of the foliage. Simon came out at once and started shoving her forwards, abandoning Tiri, who just stood there.

Simon dragged her onto the shuttle and was about to go to the control room when a voice stopped him.

"That's enough Mr. Tam," said the short man softly. The pair stepped out of the shadows where they had been standing. Tiri whimpered slightly and stumbled backwards, closer to the shuttle.

"It was a mistake to put our tow best students in the same room," continued the man, still quiet. Simon felt a flicker of fear, this man was very, very angry.

"I thought you would be sufficient leverage," he said, staring at Simon. "I was mistaken. Ms. Massri can deal with you once she had quieted your sister." River shrieked, shaking violently.

"I had hoped that Ms. Tam herself would have the pleasure of that particular piece of business herself, but our best doctors have assured me that the damage that would wreak on her would be catastrophic. As you put it, Mr. Tam, '_What use do we have for a psychic if she's insane_?'" Simon winced.

The taller man spoke for the first time that night. Turning to Tiri, he said something in a low undertone. Tiri stiffened then relaxed, turning to face the Tams. River whimpered as she felt her friend's mind becoming colder, harder.

Tiri pulled out the gun that River had given her earlier and pointed it towards Simon. River jumped in front of him, vainly trying to make herself taller so that she couldn't hit him. Simon weakly tried to push her out of the way.

Tiri stared at River then transferred the gun towards Simon's foot.

"Move," she said tonelessly. River froze, trying to think. If she attacked Tiri she might win, but she was tired and Tiri would shoot Simon the instant she moved. Same if she reached for her gun. And if she didn't move, Tiri would shoot Simon in his exposed foot then in the head or chest when he doubled over.

She scrabbled for the holes in Tiri's mind but she couldn't find them.

"Tiri," she pleaded. Her friend stared back at her, unwavering. "Paradise?" she tried.

The gun wavered for a second. "Paradise is lost," said Tiri calmly. "The voices won't shut up." Simon snorted loudly and the gun snapped back up towards his head, which was hidden by River. The two men started moving towards her, realizing that all was not going well.

"Down the rabbit hole!" shrieked River as a last-ditch attempt. Tiri frowned, her eyes narrowing, then suddenly spun, bringing her gun up to point at the shorter man.

"Reinforcements are already coming," said the shorter man dismissively. "And that might not kill us." River shuddered at the reminder that they weren't exactly _human_. Tiri seemed to think about that, then brought the gun up to her head.

"The voices will go away," she said dreamily. Now the men looked scared. River knew that Tiri was a success, matching River perfectly. She was like a copy of River, and the fact that she was also her best friend was a bonus. She was the only student they had who they could use to infiltrate Serenity. If she killed herself, they would have to track River themselves, which would take longer.

River moved away from Simon and shoved him towards the control room, hurrying him along. Simon dove into the seat then froze, not sure what to do. River groaned and pressed several buttons, starting it up before turning back to Tiri.

"Come on!" she yelled. Tiri didn't move.

"I have to find paradise," she called back. The shorter man suddenly reached for her, his hand snapping out in a knock-out blow. Tiri pulled the trigger.

River froze as she watched her friend fall, lifeless, to the ground.

"Tiri," she breathed. A single, small red dot was left by the bullet. Tiri knew the spot that would leave that, she had been trained. It was her message to River.

"Pretty red dot," River whispered brokenly. The taller man bent down, checking on Tiri, but the shorter man was looking at her.

"We'll find you," he said, not bothering to raise his voice. He knew she heard. River turned away and shoved Simon out of the control seat, taking the shuttle up and out, towards the stars where Serenity waited.

"How's Tiri?" asked Simon softly. River smiled sadly, ignoring the tears that were sliding down her face. She would mourn Tiri later, like she mourned all of the nameless, faceless people she had killed during her stay at the Academy. She would see her in her nightmares every night, and sometimes in her dreams to.

"She's gone home," River said instead. She turned to look at Simon. "She's found her paradise," she whispered. She turned to scan the stars, looking for a familiar shape.

It came out of nowhere, peeling away from the stars. She looked back at Simon, who was looking, well, happy wasn't that right word. More like relieved.

"We've found ours."


End file.
